Table of Contents
Is Mandarin Chinese simplified or traditional?
While Simplified Chinese took over mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong stayed with Traditional Chinese, which people have been using for thousands of years….
| Target Market | Written | Spoken |
|---|---|---|
| China | Simplified | Mandarin |
| Hong Kong | Traditional | Cantonese |
| Taiwan | Traditional | Mandarin |
| Singapore | Simplified | Mandarin |
What’s the difference between Mandarin and Chinese?
Here’s the short answer: Mandarin is a form of the Chinese language. Some call it a dialect. Chinese is an umbrella language term that encompasses multiple dialects/languages, including Mandarin, Cantonese, Hakka, and more. Don’t worry, Mandarin is the most widely spoken.
Where is Mandarin spoken in Taiwan?
Mandarin is spoken fluently by the vast majority of the Taiwanese population, with the exception of some of the elderly population, who were educated under Japanese rule. In the capital of Taipei, where there is a high concentration of Mainlanders who do not natively speak Hokkien, Mandarin is used in greater frequency …
What is the difference between Mandarin Chinese and traditional Chinese?
Simplified and Traditional Chinese refers only to the written word while Mandarin and Cantonese refer to dialects of the spoken word. Therefore Mandarin or Cantonese cannot be used for document translation nor can interpretation be done in Simplified or Traditional Chinese.
What is the difference between mainland China Mandarin and Taiwanese Mandarin?
There are a few other differences between Mainland China Mandarin and Taiwanese Mandarin as well. Most notably, Taiwan uses Traditional Chinese characters to write. Spoken Mandarin in Taiwan also has a regional accent, which the Mainland Chinese often describe as softer, flatter, and sometimes as cuter.
Why does the Mandarin sound so soft in Taiwan?
There’s a general perception that the Mandarin you hear in Taiwan (and southern mainland China) sounds softer than that spoken in northern China. The fact that northerners use a lot more “Erhua” is a big part of the explanation for that perception.
Do Taiwanese people raise their tongue when speaking Mandarin?
Although people still pronounce them when speaking Mandarin, due to the influence of Taiwanese, they don’t raise their tongue that much. Perhaps it sounds a little abstract. Let’s say, if we set a scale to evaluate the retroflex by measuring the tongue raising extent, and set Beijing Mandarin as 10, then Taiwanese Mandarin may fall in 6 or 7.
What is the difference between Taiwanese Braille and Taiwanese Mandarin?
Taiwanese Mandarin uses traditional Chinese characters, rather than the simplified Chinese characters used in Mainland China. Taiwanese braille is based on different letter assignments than Mainland Chinese braille.